WAVES
by LalaMoped
Summary: Captain Kai Akayou doesn't like ninjas. So how did she end up with a crazy, suicide bombing shinobi on her ship? - DeidaraOC - Beware of swearing.
1. Prologue

This is my new story, and will be DeidaraxOC. This is just the prologue, but after this, the story will be set just after Sasori's death, and will go on up to Deidara's death at the latest, if I don't decide to end it sooner on the Naruto timeline. Unlike SCARS, I have no outline for this one, so I honestly don't know where I'm going with it.

I chose to do WAVES first, because Akayou's story is loosely connected to Kinshin's but I won't say how until later. No, the two never meet, and if they did, they probably wouldn't know how they were connected.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any affiliated characters or landmarks. I do, however, own the Kai family and The Scarlet Dagger.

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><p><strong>WAVES<strong>

**Prologue**

Akayou skipped down the stairs, long red hair swaying behind her small body. This was the day her father would be returning from a months-long journey at sea, and she was excited to see him. She could hear her younger brother's clumsier footsteps following her down to the kitchen, where their mother was making breakfast for them.

"Mama, is Papa here yet?" Akayou asked as she climbed onto a chair to look out the window. From the kitchen window, a person could see the harbor, which was, to Akayou, the whole world.

Akayou's mother turned tired eyes to her daughter and smiled weakly. "You know how your father is. Don't be upset if he doesn't return for another week." The woman collected Yuurei from the edge of the chair, where the toddler was attempting to climb up next to his big sister, and took him to his highchair.

Akayou ignored her mother. In her five-year-old eyes, her father, unreliable as he was, could do no wrong. "I'm going to wait right here until I see him," Akayou declared, pressing her face closer to the glass.

Her mother only shook her head and went about trying to get Yuurei to eat something without making a mess.

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><p>Akayou stared at her dark ceiling. She'd have rather been watching through the window than sleeping, but her mother had forced her up to her bed nearly an hour before. She could still hear her mother moving around the house, though. On the other side of the room, she could hear Yuurei snoring.<p>

And then she heard the back door slam. Akayou climbed out of bed and crept down the stairs, stopping halfway down and peering through the banister. She couldn't see the kitchen, but she could see two shadows, and she could hear two voices.

"It's getting worse," she heard her mother say. "You need to take them before it's too late."

"A pirate ship is no place for children. You know that."

"Then give it up. Your children need you, and I don't know how much longer I've got. It hurts more every day."

"One more raid," the man said. His wife was about to protest, but he took her face in his hands and silenced her with a gentle kiss. "Just one more, and then we can afford medicine for you," he begged. His eyes were full of hope, but she couldn't muster any. She had been plodding along on nothing but hope for years, and she was completely out of it now.

"No, Obake," she protested. "I can't do this anymore. I'm ready to be done now."

Captain Kai Obake was nothing if not an optimistic man—venal, yes, but optimistic nonetheless—and hearing her give up like that was heartbreaking for him. "Okay," he swallowed hard and nodded solemnly. "I'll take them with me when I go."

"Thank you."

Akayou smiled, recognizing her father and hurried down the rest of the steps. "Papa, Papa! I missed you!"

He smiled and swooped his little girl into his arms, "That's nice, but who are you again?"

Akayou giggled, "I'm Akayou, Papa."

"No! You're too big to be _my_ little swashbuckler!"

She continued to laugh as her father teased her, completely unaware of the look he gave her mother, and too young to understand it, anyway.

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><p>Akayou leaned against the rail as The Scarlet Dagger came into port. Sure, she loved the sea, but there were just some things that the ocean couldn't offer her. Like shopping.<p>

"Are you sure you don't need someone to come with you?"

She rolled her eyes, "Dad, I'm fifteen, and I live with twenty men. I think I can handle anything that town might throw at me."

Obake sighed, "Okay, okay. Take your brother with you, then, Miss Can-Handle-Anything."

"_Dad!_" she whined, "That's not fair!"

"That's '_Captain'_ to you, and as captain, I don't have to be fair." He scowled as he was called to by one of his deckhands. "Just be back before dark," he commanded before hurrying off to see what the problem was.

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><p>Akayou exited the shop triumphantly, gesturing to her brother, who had waited outside, to follow her back to the ship. It had taken nearly two years of saving, but she finally had it: a dagger just like her father's. Well, admittedly not <em>just<em> like her father's, but awfully close. The dagger in her father's possession had been passed down to him from his father, the previous Captain Kai, and was made of gold. Akayou's was made of steel, but aside from that minor detail, they were the same.

"Why did you have a knife made?" Yuurei asked, looking at the shiny new weapon.

"Because," Akayou told him, "You'll get the _real_ one and the ship when you turn eighteen. I want _something_ to show for being part of the Kai family."

Yuurei wasn't all that interested in becoming the next Captain Kai. Of course, he'd do it because his father wanted him to, but he'd have been just fine handing the position over to his sister. "Will you be my first mate?" he asked her.

"Sorry, can't. I'm going to be too busy with my own ship."

"No one is going to follow a girl captain."

It was times like that that she missed being able to scowl down at him. With him almost taller than she was, she felt more like a pouty child than a peeved older sister. "You would."

"Only if it was you. You're scary."

She laughed egotistically, "I am, aren't I?"

"That is an interesting weapon," said a woman from beside the two young teens, making them jump. She brushed a lock of brown hair behind her ear and smiled at them. "Any specific reason for the design?"

Akayou puffed out her chest. "It's just like my father's, the greatest Captain who ever lived."

"Oh, you're Captain Fukato's daughter?"

"No! I'm Captain Kai's daughter!" She pulled her mouth to one side, "Who is Captain Fukato?"

The woman hummed. "You've never heard of him? He's anchored on the East Dock."

Akayou thought about this. The Scarlet Dagger was at the West Dock, which would explain why she hadn't seen the other pirate yet. If the man really was 'The Best Captain Who Ever Lived,' what did that mean for her father? He was getting old, yes, but not _that_ old.

The woman could practically see the wheels turning in the girl's red head. "Well, have a nice day," she said, blue eyes flashing mischievously as she adjusted her cloak and walked past the Kai children on her way to the West Dock.

"That was weird," muttered Yuurei, watching the woman go.

Akayou gave her brother a worried look. "We need to go check this this Fukato person out," she said, hurrying off in the direction of the East Dock.

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><p>The woman walked casually along the deck, only stopping when she reached The Scarlet Dagger. She knew this ship by heart, having been studying it for the last week in preparation for her mission. A quick check to make sure no one was looking, and she swung herself under the dock, using chakra to crawl along the side of the boat until she reached the captain's cabin window. Climbing inside of the empty cabin, she removed her cloak and took a seat in the man's chair.<p>

It didn't take long for Captain Kai to enter his quarters and when he did, she hand a kunai at his throat before he had time to react. With her free hand, she reached over and closed his door.

Calmly, she said, "You've taken something valuable from my client, and he wants it back."

Obake swallowed hard, the movement of his neck causing the kunai to make small cuts on the skin. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.

"The amulet. Where is it?"

"I don't have any amulet," he lied again.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Okay, we'll do this a different way. Tell me where the amulet is, or my friends kill your kids."

Obake's eyes widened and he frowned, looking away. "In my desk, bottom drawer on the right," he confessed.

She pulled wire from her pouch, wrapping some around his neck and the other end around the kunai, before stabbing the point into the doorframe above his head. Leaving him like that she went to his desk and retrieved the object she had been sent to collect, ignoring the other precious items completely. "There," she said, holding it up. "That wasn't so hard, was it? But I have to confess, your children were never in danger."

He glared at her, but the more he struggled, the tighter the wire got around his neck. "You bitch," he choked out.

She grimaced, "But there is a second part to my mission. My client has a thing about taking the hearts of the people who do him wrong, so I'm supposed to cut yours out and take it to him."

He wheezed and struggled, only further tightening the cord around his neck, as she approached him, preparing to finish her job.

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><p>"I'm not sure this is a good idea, Neechan," Yuurei protested, when he finally caught up to his sister. "We're supposed to be back by nightfall, and it's already sunset." They huddled behind a stack of shipping crates, looking at the moored boats there, searching for any pirate flag that one might be flying.<p>

"Oh, don't be a baby. We're just gonna get a look at this guy, and then we'll go." She looked down the pier, but didn't see any pirate ships. Quite a few cargo ships, and even some daimyo's convoy, but no pirates.

"Maybe that lady was lying," Yuurei suggested.

Akayou sighed, "I'm so stupid! I should have known it wasn't true. I mean, who's a better pirate than Dad?"

Yuurei stood and began his journey back to the West Dock. "We'd better hurry, or we're going to be in big trouble."

Akayou nodded to her brother and the two of them scampered back to The Scarlet Dagger. "We'd better check in with Dad first thing when we get there. He'll be mad enough as it is," Akayou instructed as they hopped up the gangplank a made a beeline for their father's office. When they got to the door, they found it unlocked, but were unable to open it. Looking down, they saw blood pooling out from the crack below the door, and Akayou got worried.

"Something's wrong with Dad. Go get Bankyu-jii!" she said to Yuurei, still pushing the door as hard as she could. She finally got it open just far enough to squeeze through, and wedged herself inside. Below her, her father's corpse stared up at nothing in particular, bloody and mangled. And as she looked up, she saw the woman from earlier putting her cloak back on.

The woman said nothing as she jumped out the window, swan diving into the water below. What caught Akayou's attention in that half-second before the woman disappeared, though, was the metal plate strapped to the woman's head. Akayou would never forget the symbol engraved on it, and she silently swore to her father that if she ever saw that kunoichi again, she'd kill her.

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><p><strong>AN: **No, Akayou will not be fifteen throughout the whole story. Chapter one will be set eight years after this, I just figured I'd get her backstory out of the way now.

Deidara shows up next chapter.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Deidara cursed Tobi for the hundredth time, as he tried to navigate through the vicious storm on the back of his clay bird. If it hadn't been for that swirly-masked idiot, Deidara was sure he'd have been back on dry land safe and sound. If stupid Tobi hadn't run off, Deidara wouldn't have had to complete their mission on his own, and the mission would have gone faster, and Deidara would be at a dry, warm inn for the night.

He grunted as he just barely avoided being hit by lightning. Below him, the dark ocean raged, the huge waves looking like giant mouths trying to eat him. He shook his head and focused. The rain was making it hard to see, and if he didn't pay close attention, he might miss an island or some other safe place for him to land while he waited out the storm. There was nothing but ocean for miles, and the black clouds seemed to stretch on forever, too.

Deidara focused his chakra into his hands to keep a better hold on his bird, but the rain pounded at the clay, slowly taking bits away until the creature looked more skeletal than anything. Deidara glanced at the damage and cursed again. This was not good. Without proper wings, he lost control of the clay bird, and it began to fall, taking him with it.

The water felt like a brick wall as he hit it, being thrown about before surfacing. He didn't have time to breathe, though, as he was pulled back under. Realizing that his drenched cloak and weapon pouch were making him too heavy to stay afloat, he tore them off and kicked for the surface. He then, using what little chakra he had left, pushed himself up to stand on top of the water. There, chakra nearly depleted and clay ruined by seawater, he tried to think of some way out of his predicament.

It was times like this he'd have liked to have Kisame for a partner. He shook his head; even in times like this, he wouldn't want the artless shark-man. Then again, he supposed _anyone_ was better than freaking _Tobi_. But he'd have to think of a good way to maim the idiot later, he had some not dying to do at that moment.

He didn't have much chakra left, so he'd have to find land quickly. But his fall had been disorienting, and he had no idea which direction he should go. Already feeling exhaustion creeping in, he chose a direction at random and began to run.

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><p>Akayou stared blankly at the map on her wall. They were still over a month from home, so she didn't have to decide right then, but she knew that soon she'd have to make a choice. Her father had been captain for twenty-seven years and had managed to get married and have a family in that time, and she had no idea how he did it.<p>

It was just her biological clock, she told herself. She didn't need to have a family yet. She didn't need one at all if she made Yuurei do it. Though it was a little pathetic that she was already twenty-three and still hadn't ever been in a real relationship. Not that she cared about that sentimental crap.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a ruckus on deck, and she went to see what all the noise was about. Outside, her crew was standing in a circle around something, and she pushed through to see what it was.

"We pulled him out of the water, Captain," one explained as a man with long blond hair came into view.

"Oh, good," she said sarcastically. "You can't find the lost treasure of The Tiger King, but at least you're good corpse-catchers."

"Not a corpse, ma'am," Bankyu told her from where he knelt beside the unconscious body. "He's alive."

"Oh, one more mouth to feed, then. That's so much better." She rolled her eyes, "Take him below." There was noise and movement as her crew hurried to do as they were told, and when the stranger was thrown over one of the bigger men's shoulder, Akayou caught a glimpse of something that made her pause. She lifted the blond's head and moved his hair, peering at the headband he wore. "On second thought," she said, dropping his face, "Throw him back overboard."

For a minute, the whole crew stood still, trying to discern whether or not she was joking. Realizing that she wasn't, they hauled the blond to the railing.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Yuurei cried. He pointed a finger at the man carrying their unconscious guest, "Take him to the crew's cabin, and give him my cot." He then grabbed his sister by the arm and dragged her into her office, closing the door behind them.

"Since when do you give orders?"

He looked down at her with the expression of a disappointed parent. "What was that about?" he asked.

"He's wearing the same forehead protector as the whore who murdered our father."

"Neechan, you know I respect you and your decisions, but that's just…" He sighed and tried again, "You can't blame an entire group of people for one person's actions."

"Oh, _this_ again?"

"I mean it. Ever since Dad died, you've been so brutal."

Akayou groaned and walked slowly to her desk, looking at least ten years older than she really was. Her chosen occupation was a tenuous one, and the years that she'd been pillaging and murdering showed in her face. She didn't even know what she was looking for anymore. For the most part, all of the spoils went to paying her crew and keeping The Scarlet Dagger in sailing condition.

"I know you don't like it, and you don't have to," Yuurei said gently. "But we're going to help that person, ninja or not. If for no other reason than to make up for some of the things we've done in the past." With that, he left his sister alone with her thoughts.

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><p>Deidara could hear voices.<p>

"So he's from the Village Hidden in the Square Objects?"

"No, it's Iwagakure."

"Where's that?"

"North."

"What? Just North? No other directions?"

"Stop trying to pretend you know geography. Look, he's got a line through it."

"What's that mean?"

"He defected, I guess."

"Why doesn't he just stop wearing the fucking thing off if he's not with them anymore?"

"He sure is pretty. Like a girl."

"That's the gayest shit ever."

Deidara growled and squinted up at the three burly sailors hovering over him. His shoulder hurt (he had no idea why), and his chakra was still pretty low, but he could probably take them if they wanted to start something. Groaning, he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Shit, he's up," muttered one, startled, as he watched the blond familiarize himself to the area around him. He seemed to be having troubled making sense of his surroundings, though.

"Where the hell am I, un?"

The three pirates exchanged glances before one answered, "You're aboard the finest vessel that ever sailed these seas, The Scarlet Dagger."

Deidara wasn't impressed. "Why is my arm wrapped up like this, un?"

"You fucked up your shoulder," answered another. "Old man Bankyu fixed it for you, though."

"Fantastic," grumbled Deidara. At least they were too dumb to be authorities, so he didn't have to worry about that, but they might be planning to turn him in to the hunter-nin. If that was the case, he'd have to find a way to escape sooner rather than later. "I'm your prisoner, then, un?"

They passed curious looks around until they appeared to come to a silent supposition, all shrugging at once. "Maybe. Captain Kai is acting like it, anyway."

Well, that was sort of good news. It looked like his biggest obstacle would be some headstrong buffoon, who happened to own a boat. "He's got another thing coming, un," Deidara concluded, more to himself despite saying it aloud.

They all howled with laughter. "A little thing like you, taking on the captain? You'd be lucky to survive that."

Deidara glared at their amusement. Didn't they know who he was? Then it dawned on him, he had stripped himself of his cloak when he had fallen into the water. These morons probably had no idea who he was. Which actually happened to be good news. If they assumed he was docile, they'd never expect it when he killed them all as soon as his chakra was replenished.

Having recovered from his laughing fit, the largest of the pirates clapped Deidara on the back, making the wounded missing-nin wince. "You're pretty damn funny," he said. "What's your name, short stack?"

"Deidara, un."

Another, seeming to be the smartest—though that wasn't saying much—of the bunch, grinned. "Well, Deidara-chan, I'm willing to bet you're hungry. Can you walk to the galley?"

Deidara's stomach growled in response, and he shoved hair out of his face (the side that he wasn't used to having it on), swinging his legs over the side of the cot and standing cautiously. His legs seemed to hold his weight, though, and he relaxed. And then he noticed what he was wearing.

"Your clothes were soaked when we pulled you up, so we had to find something else to put you in. Turns out you and the captain are almost the same size."

Deidara, shoving hair from his right eye again, sniffed the sleeve of the pirate jacket he wore. At least this Captain Kai had good taste in cologne. He saw a piece of leather string come into view out of the corner of his eye, and accepted it. He tied the front part of his hair back, leaving his long bangs down in his usual style. His hair was tangled and a little dirty, but he figured he could do something about that later.

They exited the crew's quarters and walked across the main deck until they came to a passage in the floor. They descended a ladder into the hold, where crewmembers loitered around cargo, some even using crates for chairs. The kitchen appeared to be located at the far end of the hold.

"Hey, he's awake!" cried one of the lounging seamen, and it didn't take long for Deidara to be surrounded like a shiny new toy. "How are you feeling, pipsqueak?"

"Don't call Deidara-chan a pipsqueak," warned one of the pirates that had escorted Deidara to the hold. "He'll hit you with his purse."

If Deidara hadn't been seriously lacking in the chakra department, he'd have knocked the bastard out. "You guys can go straight to Hell, un," he hissed, making them all laugh at him. He was too hungry to deal with this.

They got him settled on a crate of his own and thrust a bowl of he-didn't-want-to-know-what into his hands. It smelled bad, and didn't taste much better, but he'd have been willing to eat almost anything by that point. While he slurped at his 'soup', the crew asked him questions about who he was and where he was from, particularly interested in the mouths on his hands. He told the truth, naturally leaving out a few details, and in return he was given information about The Scarlet Dagger and where she was headed, but the crew wouldn't say much concerning their captain, aside from the fact that he was pretty ferocious. Deidara kept a snort to himself. Even the strongest civilian, pirate captain or not, was no match for a shinobi.

As Deidara finished his meal, they were approached by a red-haired man, who was easily the largest man on the ship. Deidara was told that this person was Kai Yuurei, the captain's younger brother and first mate. The redhead had an intimidating face, in Deidara's opinion, even as Yuurei smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Yuurei asked.

"Fine, un," Deidara replied nonchalantly. He wasn't about to let on how weak he actually was.

Yuurei nodded to himself, "That's good to hear, Deidara-san. But I have a reason for being here, other than checking on your health. Captain Kai wishes to see you, so if you would follow me, I'd appreciate it."

Deidara handed his empty bowl off to one of the others and followed Yuurei up the ladder, back onto the main deck. They maneuvered around people tying knots and mopping, coming to stand at the door to the captain's cabin. Yuurei reminded him to knock first, before leaving Deidara there to fend for himself.

Deidara spent a few seconds just looking at the sturdy wood door. He wasn't _afraid_ to meet Captain Kai, he just wondered what sort of a person the guy was to inspire such loyalty from a crew, where even the smallest man looked strong enough to wrestle a bear into submission. Even in Akatsuki, Deidara didn't doubt that none of them would follow Pein if there wasn't a good chance that Pein could kick their asses. Deidara had to take that into consideration, especially in his weakened state.

Knowing there was no way around it though, Deidara finally raised his fist to the door and knocked. Almost instantly, a voice from inside told him to enter, and Deidara didn't hesitate to do just that. The door opened easily, swinging on well-greased hinges to reveal the person who Deidara assumed was Captain Kai.

The captain sat at his desk, watching Deidara from below the brim of his hat. Red hair, longer in the front than the back, framed what little of his face that Deidara could see below the shadow that brim cast. He was slender and well-dressed for a pirate, and when Captain Kai stood, his jacket settled nicely over his considerable breasts.

Wait, _what?_ Deidara had to pan his gaze over her one more time to believe it, before settling on her face. Her eyes were a murky dark brown that bordered on black, and her lips were chapped from too many years of salty winds, but he supposed she might have been pretty at one point, maybe even right then if she hadn't been glowering at him.

Suddenly, Captain Kai was much scarier.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **And the epic battle begins. Pirates versus ninjas! Place your bets!**  
><strong>

I really hope I'm writing Deidara in character. I'm not as familiar with him as I am with Hidan and Kakuzu. Feedback or tips on how Deidara could be more Deidara-ish would be appreciated.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Akayou glared at her guest, especially peeved by the dumb expression he was staring at her with. "What are you looking at?" she snapped.

"You're a girl, un?"

She rolled her eyes, "Duh! Who said I wasn't?"

Now that Deidara thought about it, no one had referred to Captain Kai as a man. He had made that assumption on his own. Pouting, her changed the subject, "Did you want me for something, or not, un?"

"A few things, actually. First, thank Yuurei the next time you see him, because he's the only reason you aren't dead right now, and he's the only thing keeping you alive. Second, when I'm around, you won't speak unless spoken to and you will do _exactly_ what I say, _exactly_ the way I say."

"Anything else, your majesty, un?"

She glared so hard, he was surprised her head didn't explode. "And while you're on my ship, you will call me Captain Kai or ma'am, and _nothing else_. Understood?"

He snorted and turned away petulantly.

"Now, get the fuck out of my office!" she snarled.

* * *

><p>It only took a few days for Deidara's shoulder to feel better. In that time, he never once saw Captain Kai, which he was glad for because that woman was a shrieking harpy. Despite her more than obvious contempt for Deidara, her crew was very nice to him—even if they were constantly calling him a girl.<p>

Deidara took to hanging out with Yuurei. Yuurei, contrary to his looks, was remarkably kind and generous, especially for a pirate. And Yuurei understood art; he was a painter and his definition of art was very much like Sasori's had been. Deidara had to wonder if some of his liking for Yuurei stemmed from a place that saw a little bit of Sasori in him.

When Deidara found Yuurei that afternoon on the forecastle deck, painting as he usually did when his work for the day was finished, he looked over the man's shoulder at the image on the canvas. Yuurei was sliding a thin brush down the canvas, adding highlights to the painted woman's blonde hair. Aside from her hair, though, the woman seemed almost featureless.

"Who is that, un?"

Yuurei set down his brush with a sigh. "My mother, or what I remember of her. She sent Neechan and me away with Dad when we were very young," he recalled. "All I remember is her hair. It was soft and smelled like love." He frowned and looked out at the horizon, "Dad used to say that she hated the sea for taking him away from her so often. But she loved the waves for bringing him back."

Deidara's own parents had died just over a decade before. After that, the tsuchikage had taken him under his wing, but even that hadn't made life any easier for Deidara. He shook his head and decided the sails would be more interesting to look at. "Very poetic, un," he commented.

"Yeah, Dad had a silver tongue. He could always talk his way out of trouble." Yuurei considered his statement and shrugged, "Except dying."

While Yuurei finished his painting, Deidara looked out at the ocean, more because there was nothing else to look at than because he really cared for the view. Three ships were sailing in a triangular formation, not far from them, which wouldn't have seemed odd, except he hadn't seen any other ships get so close before. Also, these ships flew a Water Country flag… And they were sailing right toward The Scarlet Dagger.

"Oi," the blond looked to Yuurei. "I don't know much about boats and things, but I think you might want to take a look at those ones coming at us, un."

Yuurei looked up, and there was only a fraction of a second before his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet, sprinting toward Akayou's cabin. "Neechan, there's a bit of an, er, _situation_ out here."

* * *

><p>Within the next few minutes, every pirate was scrambling to prepare cannons and distribute weapons to defend the ship, and Deidara realized that it would be in his best interest to help them. He cursed under his breath as he was handed an old, bent sword. The circumstances weren't ideal, but he was still a ninja, and Water Country's naval unit rarely carried shinobi.<p>

As the Water Country navy used their three ships to box in The Scarlet Dagger, the officers set to trying to take the pirate ship, climbing aboard the rogue vessel and engaging her men in combat. Deidara easily killed one, despite his defective weapon, and moved on to another. Within a few minutes, The Scarlet Dagger's deck was littered with the bodies of both pirate and officer alike.

Deidara killed several officers without even breaking a sweat. Just as he had anticipated, there were no ninja against him. He would only have a problem if the officers all realized who he was and were to attack him all at once. But then they'd have the pirates baring down on them, and they'd lose anyway. All in all, it was not a fortunate situation for the Water Country navy. Before long, the hundred-and-fifty officers were taken down by more than half, but the pirates had also suffered losses and were still at a disadvantage.

Akayou slit an officer's throat and quickly pivoted, dodging what would have been a fatal blow, and disemboweling her assailant. She had lost count of how many she had killed shortly after the fight began, more concerned with how many of her crewmen had already been slain. Just as four more officers started coming at her, though, Yuurei yelped and clutched a wound on his arm. The attacking officers used her distraction to their advantage, drawing their blades back and preparing to slice Akayou to pieces.

Deidara send the last of his opponents overboard, and surveyed the area. Yuurei was fighting with only one arm, the other hanging limply at his side as blood streamed down to pool below him. The redhead was already looking a little pale, and Deidara estimated that he'd only last a few more minutes before he passed out.

At the other end of the deck, Captain Kai was watching her younger brother concernedly. Beside her, four naval officers held swords, and one in particular was only seconds from beheading the captain. Without thinking, Deidara sprinted across the deck and was between the woman and her aggressors in the blink of an eye. The blond pyromaniac's rusty sword first disarmed the officer going for her neck and the rest were killed in turn with the first officer's sword, before Deidara swung finally to finish off the would-be decapitator.

A surreal moment passed where Akayou and Deidara just stared at each other, before the woman hurried to help her brother.

Deidara hummed as he looked around. The battle appeared to be over, with any officers who weren't dead having boarded their ships and retreated. There were at least forty-seven bodies on the deck, as far as Deidara could count, and he was a little sad to notice than almost half were pirates.

Akayou helped Yuurei to his feet as she tried to figure out how many men she had left. Bankyu, The Scarlet Dagger's medic since her father was captain, was still alive, which was good news for the other six survivors (not including herself, Yuurei, and their ninja guest), and the old man was quick to patch everyone up before they all worked together to dispose of the corpses.

* * *

><p>Deidara slouched against the rail, looking out at the sunset. The least few hours had dragged on for what seemed like an eternity, but they were done now, and come morning, the memory of them would already be fading. He tilted his head when the captain's red hair popped up from below deck, and she tossed up a bucket of foul-smelling black putty before hefting herself up the last few rungs. She approached him slowly, and set the bucket down in front of him, and he could tell she was nervous about something, but he couldn't figure what she was nervous about.<p>

Akayou cleared her throat. "We took damage starboard," she explained. "She's light enough now that it's not causing problems, but if a storm comes along…"

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "And?"

She swallowed and he could practically see her swallowing her pride. "I can't patch it myself, and everyone else is wounded."

Deidara would have drawn out her humiliation a little longer, but she looked about ready to kill him it meant saving herself from the embarrassment, so he shrugged and followed her to the right side of the ship. He watched her silently as she set to tying a rope into a makeshift harness, before rolling his eyes and stepping up onto the rail.

"What are you doing?"

He jumped down to the water and let his chakra hold him up like he was standing on a solid surface, then examined the side of the boat until he found the crack she was talking about. It looked pretty nasty, but sure enough, it was above water. "I found it, un," he announced, looking up at her only to see her scowling at him.

"Stupid, smug ninja," she muttered, lowering the bucket to him, then she instructed him to spear the putty-like substance over the crack.

"With my hand, un?"

"Don't be a little bitch."

Deidara grimaced, but took a handful of the stuff and slathered it on the breach, nonetheless. "Aye-aye, Sir, un," he grumbled.

Akayou paused and blinked at him, "What did you call me?"

"I called you sir. Because you're a cross-dresser, un."

"I am not a cross-dresser!"

Deidara stepped back to admire his handiwork, then washed the thick gunk from his hand in the ocean water. "You wear men's clothing," he pointed out. "That makes you a cross-dresser, un."

"I wear these clothes because they are both relevant and functional to my occupation," she seethed.

Deidara climbed back and sat on the railing. "And the hair, un?"

She grunted. "Fine, you got me there. It was longer, but after my father was murdered and I became captain, I cut it short. The long hair was a vulnerability in a fight, plus I think the others respect me more this way."

"How is long hair a vulnerability, un?" Deidara asked, flicking a lock of his own lengthy hair over his shoulder.

Akayou reached over and grabbed a handful of his flowing tresses, giving them a swift yank. When he cried out and turned to yell at her for pulling his hair, she grinned at him. "Like that."

Now it was his turn to grunt. "Point taken, un," he grumbled.

Akayou looked down at the patchwork and sighed, "It's not great, but it'll have to do until we reach port."

"Uh, Captain," called one of The Scarlet Dagger's few surviving crewmen. When Akayou turned her attention to him, he fidgeted nervously. "It's almost time for dinner."

"So?"

The pirate scratched his head and looked anywhere but at his irked captain. "Well, uh, you see, Ma'am… The chef got killed, so…"

"Are you suggesting _I_ make something?"

"You _are_ the only woman on the ship, Ma'am. Unless you count Deidara-chan."

Matching veins bulged on the two seemingly gender-confused people in question. Through grinding teeth, Akayou managed to ask who had sent the unfortunate crewman up to his demise.

"Yuurei-san, Ma'am."

"Knocked over his paints, did you?"

The skittish pirate blushed, "It was an accident."

Akayou nodded stiffly, unable to fully enjoy the humor. "I see. Well, I'm going into my office, otherwise I might kill you," she growled, stalking off across the deck. Only once her door had slammed behind her did Deidara turn to the other man.

"What sort of ingredients are down there, un?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I can't believe this took so long to write. See what happens when you rush into a fanfiction with no clue where you're going with it?

Could this be the beginning of a begrudging friendship between Deidara and Akayou? Knowing the two of them, no.

Hopefully updates won't be so few and far between in future. Reviews are always appreciated.


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